CTP Insurance Law in Queensland

In Queensland if you have a motor vehicle accident or suffer an injury at work, it may be that you are entitled to compensation for the accident you have suffered. This short article gives a summary of the background to an important part of the Queensland insurance landscape. The relevant legislation for consideration is the Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 (Qld).

If you have a car or other vehicle, such as a motorcycle, that travels on Queensland roads, you must register the vehicle with the Queensland State Government and a part of this registration fee is called Compulsory Third Party insurance, or CTP insurance for short. In the event that there is a motor vehicle accident, the CTP insurance steps in to pay for damage caused to the vehicles involved in the crash and to pay for medical costs associated with personal injuries suffered. But have you wondered who the third party is? What about the first party and the second party?

In Brisbane and throughout Queensland, the first party is the driver or owner of the vehicle which is found to be at fault in the accident.

The second party is the CTP insurer of the at fault vehicle.

The third party is the person or people injured in the accident.

The Queensland government felt that it was necessary to force everybody to take out insurance to cover injuries caused by motor vehicles as a matter of public policy, due to the large medical costs that can ensue.

Due to the large amount of money held by CTP insurers (just think, everybody who drives in Queensland contributes a large amount of money every year to their accounts), an industry has sprung up around personal injuries sustained due to car accidents, motorcycle accidents and other motor accidents. This is why people hire personal injuries lawyers in Brisbane and throughout Queensland.

Personal injuries lawyers understand that in most cases it is more expensive for a CTP insurer to fight against a claim made against them for money due to an injured person than to simply pay a reasonable amount of money to them. Litigation is often an option for somebody who is fighting resistance from an insurance company and lawyers use this as a threat to make sure the CTP insurance companies don’t just hold onto the money and earn interest on it, but use it for its rightful purpose – to compensate people who have been injured in motor vehicle accidents.

There are large fines if you do not obtain CTP insurance for your car or bike but more troubling than this is what can happen if you get into an accident. If you don’t have CTP insurance and you cause somebody an injury, you may be personally liable to pay them damages and compensation, so make sure you have CTP insurance!